Assessing the impact of the Common Agriculture Policy's greening measures on farmland bird diversity

2nd Conference of Conservation Biology for Early Career Researchers. L’Aquila (Italy), 6-9 May 2025. We investigated to what extent the implementation of agri-environmental schemes affected 3 biodiversity metrics in 4 groups of birds (Insectivorous, Granivorous, Farmland specialist, forest specialist). Biodiversity metrics: - Species richness (total number of differently named taxa in a site);- Population abundance (total number of individuals in a site);- Shannon diversity index 1. Spatial analyses: check if different extensive practices, crop diversification and natural elements maintenance had an impact on bird diversity.2. Temporal analyses: check if their implementation, promoted by 2015 CAP reforms, enhanced bird diversity. Study area: Lombardy. 3.048 bird point counts from 2010 to 2018. Farm level data: ~ 600.000 agricultural parcels from 2011 to 2017- What is cultivated- Managent practices- Livestock pressure- CAP compliance (data provided by Region Lombardy and LIPU) Conclusions: Agri-environmental schemes benefit bird diversity in different ways, but CAP Greening reforms had a negative impact on farmland species richness. Recommendations: Crop diversification should favor crops that enhance farmland bird diversity (like cereals).